Ajrak Block Printing – A traditional block printing process which originated from the early settlers of the Indus Valley; Sindh, Pakistan. The traditional Teli Ajrak process is complex and can take up to 20 or more steps to achieve the very famous double sided print with perfect registration and rich colour. Today many artisans limit some of the processes. Provenance has Ek-Puri Ajrak (printed on one side) block prints from the studio of Irfan Khatri, Gujarat.
Railroaded – If you were to hold a standard patterned fabric in front of you with selvedges of the fabric to your left and right the pattern would be running horizontal across the fabric. However, with railroaded fabric the pattern would be running vertically.
Khadi Cloth – A hand-woven fabric made from hand-spun yarn. Promoted by Mahatma Gandhi as part of an ideological movement during the 1920’s against the importation of expensive woven fabrics from Britain. This movement endeavoured to provide self-employment and self-reliance for rural communities and continues to do so for many in India even today.
Kala Cotton – An old-world cotton variety which is indigenous to Kutch, Gujarat. The short staple of Kala cotton meant it fell out of favour as “new world” cotton varieties became more popular. However, Kala cotton is seeing a resurgence because it has a natural tolerance to disease and pests and is solely rain fed.
Tussah Silk – silk filament produced by wild silkworms, which feed on a variety of vegetation, produces a varied taupe to brown colour. Tussah silk yarn is more textured than that of commercially reared silkworms.
Mulberry Silk – Silk produced by domesticated Bombyx mori silk worms which are exclusively fed on mulberry leaves.
Eri silk – Also known as endi or errandi, eri silk is primarily found in North East of India and some parts of China and Japan. The name eri is derived from the Assamese word ‘era’, which means castor as the silkworm feeds on castor plants. Eri silk fabric is often known as “peace silk” as the process does not involve killing the silk worm. The eri silk worm is the only completely domesticated silkworm other than Bombyx mori.
GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) – The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is recognised as the world’s leading processing standard for textiles made from organic fibres. It defines high-level environmental criteria along the entire organic textiles supply chain and requires compliance with social criteria as well. (ref. www.global-standard.org)
Silk Mommes – The quality of silk fabrics is traditionally measured using a unit called Mommes (mm). One momme = 4.340grms per square mt. The higher the weight the more dense the fabric is.